Music industry caps fees for Net radio stations
WASHINGTON — A music industry group Thursday said it would cap "per channel" fees for major Internet radio companies streaming music on multiple channels.
SoundExchange, which collects royalties from webcasters and distributes them to artists and record labels, said it would limit fees - at $50,000 a year - for online radio station companies that offer more than 100 channels to customers.
A panel of three copyright judges earlier this year mandated that webcasters had to pay higher royalty fees and a $500 fee "per station or channel" streamed, regardless of the total number of channels.
The ruling meant that large webcasters, such as Pandora Media Inc. and Time Warner Inc.'s AOL, that stream hundreds of channels faced much higher payments to SoundExchange than in the past.
Representatives from both companies said the new agreement was a positive first step, but they are still negotiating on how the new royalty rates will be calculated.
"That $500 per channel minimum was kind of absurd and the truth is everybody knew that," Pandora founder Tim Westergren said. "But the real meat of this is the (royalty) rate, which has not been figured out yet."
The agreement also calls for accurate reporting of what's streamed rather than the sampling that had been used in the past to determine fees. And SoundExchange also wants Internet radio stations who accept the deal to collaborate on how to prevent illegal downloading of copyrighted streaming music.
SoundExchange said the agreement applies only to its members of some 20,000 recording artists and 3,500 record labels, including all the major labels.
Web radio may survive after all.
Today, America's online radio royalty police - aka SoundExchange - agreed to cap per channel fees at $50,000 for each individual broadcaster, a big win for sites like Yahoo! and Live365 that serve up thousands of channels to listeners across the web.
SoundExchange continues to haggle over further changes to the new royalty rates issued by the U.S. Copyright Royalty board this spring - rates that threatened to bring down the entire industry - but broadcasters are confident the two sides can ultimately reach a compromise.
“We are encouraged by today’s announcement,” said Jake Ward, a spokesperson for SaveNetRadio, a coalition of internet broadcasters including everyone from Yahoo! to WebRadioPugetSound. “This agreement is a clear sign of progress in the ongoing negotiations between webcasters and SoundExchange and a very good first step toward a viable solution."
In March, the Royalty Board laid down new rules that would require broadcasters to pay $0.0008 per song per listener. That's retroactive to 2006, and by 2010, the base rate would jump to $0.0019. Plus, the board called for a $500 per channel minimum royalty.
The new rates were due to kick in on July 15, but as broadcasters protested on Capital Hill, SoundExchange - the organization charged with collecting the new royalties - held off on collection in order to negotiate a compromise.
On Tuesday, SoundExchange said it would reduce per listener royalties for smaller broadcasters, but several have already rejected the offer, saying it still prevents them from staying in business.
Two days later, its cap on the $500 per channel minimum has been met with open arms, but SoundExchange has included two conditions: webcasters must provide the organization with comprehensive records of songs being broadcast, and the Digital Music Association, which represents many broadcasters, must work with SoundExchange to "evaluate" what's known as "streamripping," the practice of recording songs as they're broadcast over the net. ®
ALL ABOUT NET RADIO | |
 | |
| |
|
Classic jazz is a thing of the present as well as the past. Musicians today, while creating classic jazz art of their own, pay homage to the masters.
Of all the instruments that have defined the art of Jazz, the most moving is the human voice. It connects us to the art.
This channel features classical music from the dawn of Western music (Early Middle Ages) to the passing of Johann Sebastian Bach in 1750.
Maestro Mix comprises classical compositions that feature orchestral and instrumental music, from solo piano to full symphony orchestra.Radio Station Top 10
| 1. | Home Radio | Mix |  |
| 2. | Capital 98.4 FM | Top 40 | |
| 3. | Galgalatz 91.8 FM | Mix | |
| 4. | Afterhours DJ | Techno | |
| 5. | #Musik.Club | Techno | |
| 6. | Techno4ever | Techno | |
| 7. | Craze FM | Bollywood | |
| 8. | DI FM Eurodance | Dance | |
| 9. | BlackBeats FM | Hip Hop | |
| 10. | Radio KLF 100 | Mix | |
By Name | By Country |
By Language | By Type |
| Broadcasting information and stations on the web, browse by location... | |
 | |
Geoff Allen is a 69 year young Aussie, a jazz musician and loves listening to music on web radio from USA and Australia. He is looking for a simple internet radio recorder to I want to record songs from online radio stations, label each one as I record it and put a small space in between each one (about 2 seconds) then save the songs (could be as many as 30/40 per session) in MP3 format to burn to a CD disc or the iPod MP3 player.Disclaimer: While the method described here can be used to save streaming audio from all internet radio stations like Live365, Last.fm, AOL Radio, Pandora music or even from iTunes and Yahoo! Music Launchcast, you should cross-check their terms of service.
My greatest thrill in life other than riding my sidecar motorcycle rig is listening to good music that I can replay at my discretion and take with me wherever I go.
